Los Angeles Angels Power Rankings - 2015

What a month for Mike Trout. The reigning AL MVP is hitting .361/.459/.833 with 11 home runs in July and leads the majors with 31 homers and 75 runs (three more than Brian Dozier of the Twins). He can become the first player to lead his league in runs for four straight seasons. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

With back-to-back shutouts against the Red Sox, the Angels rotation continues to roll with a 1.97 ERA in July. One key has been C.J. Wilson, who has gone 6-plus innings in 15 of his 19 starts, after doing that in just 17 of 31 starts in 2014. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

Should we just give the MVP Award to Mike Trout already? He's hitting .312/.405/.614 with 26 home runs, 55 RBIs and 68 runs. Since sitting at 37-37 on June 26, the Angels have gone 11-3 as Trout hit .360 with seven home runs. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

In sweeping the Rangers in Texas, the Angels pounded out at least 15 hits in three consecutive games for the just the seventh time in franchise history. With his 545th career home run on Sunday, Albert Pujols is now three shy of Mike Schmidt for 15th all time. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

Garrett Richards and Matt Shoemaker went a combined 29-8 with a 2.81 ERA in 2014, but are 11-10 with a 4.40 in 2015. Richards' strikeout rate has decreased from 24.2 percent to 18.6 and his walk rate has increased from 7.5 to 9.6 percent. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

In his past 10 games, Albert Pujols is hitting .359/.405/.897 with seven home runs. Unfortunately for the Angels, they've dropped five in a row to fall back under .500 after being swept by the Yankees. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

An impressive four-game sweep of the Tigers has the Angels three games over .500 for the first time all season. The Angels lost five of Jered Weaver's first six starts (he went 0-4 with a 6.29 ERA), but they've won his past five (4-0, 1.98). -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

Even with Matt Shoemaker's struggles (13 home runs and a 6.29 ERA in 44.1 innings), the Angels rank third in the AL in rotation ERA. The big difference for Shoemaker: Last year, batters hit .160 with one home run off his splitter/changeup; this year, they're hitting .207 but with seven home runs. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot

Six of the 10 Angels regulars are hitting .222 or worse, and five of those six are well below the Mendoza Line. If the Halos want to stay afloat, they're going to need at least a few of those guys to turn it around. As good as Mike Trout is, even he can't make up for half the lineup tanking. -- Nathan Aderhold (@AdrastusPerkins), Halos Daily

The uncomfortable situation between Josh Hamilton and Angels ownership isn't anywhere close to a resolution and could get worse before it gets better -- if it gets better. In the meantime, we have Mike Trout dingers to distract us. Trout's two-homer game on Friday gives him 101 for his career, making him the youngest 100 HR/100 SB player ever. -- Nathan Aderhold (@AdrastusPerkins), Halos Daily

Jered Weaver and his new 84-mph "fastball" are in some exclusive company. The only other starting pitchers since 2007 with an average fastball velocity that low are Jamie Moyer and 41-year-old Tom Glavine. Garrett Richards, please come back soon. -- Nathan Aderhold (@HalosDaily), Halos Daily

The Angels are looking to keep the good times rolling into 2015, and the best way to do that is with a fast start. The team has struggled in April in recent seasons, finishing above .500 in only two of the last six years. They'll have to buck the trend if they want to get a head start on the Mariners and A's. -- Nathan Aderhold (@AdrastusPerkins), Halos Daily